I am now the proud owner of a secondhand Steam deck! Rec me games!
5 July 2025 07:02![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rydra_wongA whole world of games not playable on Mac has opened up to me, and it's Steam summer sale time!
Please rec me your favourite games, bearing in mind that I have very limited reflexes/co-ordination.
(I'm not completely ruling out games involving them, but the threshold for entry has to be very very low. I am currently enjoying Refunct because it allows me to try some simple platforming in a very chill and pleasant environment with no time pressure and no penalties for taking several hundred tries to get a jump.)
Please rec me your favourite games, bearing in mind that I have very limited reflexes/co-ordination.
(I'm not completely ruling out games involving them, but the threshold for entry has to be very very low. I am currently enjoying Refunct because it allows me to try some simple platforming in a very chill and pleasant environment with no time pressure and no penalties for taking several hundred tries to get a jump.)
A Medieval visit to London
4 July 2025 10:01kazzy_ceeYesterday, a friend and I went to visit The Charterhouse in London. I've been several times, but she'd never been, so it was fun to go back again.
The Charterhouse's history goes back to 1348 when the site was used as an emergency cemetery for plague victims in London. The 'Black Death' killed 60% of the London population, and a Chapel was built on the site for mourners to pray for the victims' souls. Following this, a Carthusian monastery (known as a Charterhouse) was built nearby in 1371 and thrived for many years.
In 1545, following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII (which led to the death of the monks and the seizing of the land by the Crown), a Tudor manor house was built using some parts of the old monastery. You can just see some of the original stones above the bench in the frieze at the base of the building if you click the photo.
In 1611, Thomas Sutton, a wealthy landowner, bought the site and turned it into a charitable institution which included a school for 'poor' boys and almshouse accommodation for 80 impoverished 'poor Brothers'. Today, the school has relocated, but it is still home to 43 people who are given free accommodation if they meet certain criteria. This is still fully funded by the charity Sutton set up and is maintained by Governors (including King Charles II).
More under the cut with photos.
( Read more... )
The criteria for becoming a Brother at The Charterhouse in 1611 - you would have to be “either decrepit or old captaynes either at sea or at land, maimed or disabled soldiers, merchants fallen on hard times, those ruined by shipwreck or other calamity”. It was originally a Faith-based charity.
Today the criteria are: you must be single, and over 60 years old; in financial, housing or social need and have no significant debts. You must be able to live independently, be keen to contribute to a community and have the right to live in the UK.
I'd love to live there, but there are a couple of criteria I don't meet! LOL!
It was a fascinating tour, and even though I've been before, I learned some new things, which is always good!
The Charterhouse's history goes back to 1348 when the site was used as an emergency cemetery for plague victims in London. The 'Black Death' killed 60% of the London population, and a Chapel was built on the site for mourners to pray for the victims' souls. Following this, a Carthusian monastery (known as a Charterhouse) was built nearby in 1371 and thrived for many years.
In 1545, following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII (which led to the death of the monks and the seizing of the land by the Crown), a Tudor manor house was built using some parts of the old monastery. You can just see some of the original stones above the bench in the frieze at the base of the building if you click the photo.
In 1611, Thomas Sutton, a wealthy landowner, bought the site and turned it into a charitable institution which included a school for 'poor' boys and almshouse accommodation for 80 impoverished 'poor Brothers'. Today, the school has relocated, but it is still home to 43 people who are given free accommodation if they meet certain criteria. This is still fully funded by the charity Sutton set up and is maintained by Governors (including King Charles II).
More under the cut with photos.
( Read more... )
The criteria for becoming a Brother at The Charterhouse in 1611 - you would have to be “either decrepit or old captaynes either at sea or at land, maimed or disabled soldiers, merchants fallen on hard times, those ruined by shipwreck or other calamity”. It was originally a Faith-based charity.
Today the criteria are: you must be single, and over 60 years old; in financial, housing or social need and have no significant debts. You must be able to live independently, be keen to contribute to a community and have the right to live in the UK.
I'd love to live there, but there are a couple of criteria I don't meet! LOL!
It was a fascinating tour, and even though I've been before, I learned some new things, which is always good!
Fancake Theme for July: Working Together
3 July 2025 09:23runpunkrun posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomcalendar
fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules. This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!
(no subject)
3 July 2025 11:21lotesseAlas that stress also means need for dentist. I think the filling repair my dentist did last month already broke; it might not be the only bit of my dentistry crumbling under the current tension levels. And going to the dentist is so painful and scary :(
Joy: The Interdisciplinary Edition
30 June 2025 18:27![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
fanhackers_feedI am always on the lookout for academic works that talk about the kinds of joy that I feel are characteristic of fandom. There are a lot of books about art, literature, music, etc. but their analysis doesn’t often take into account the pleasures of those activities (Barthes notwithstanding.)
One book that I like a lot for the way in which it conceptualizes joy in collectivity is William H. McNeill’s Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. McNeill says something that, to me, is obviously true but rarely said: that people like to move together! The book is about the emotional bonding that happens when people move, together, in time: McNeill’s two examples are dance and drill (by which he means military drill - so Beyonce gives us a two-fer with Formation! ) Obviously this is a pleasure familiar to anyone who likes dance of any kind, or synchronised swimming, or drum circles, or marching bands, or yoga or tai chi, or participating in church services, or cheerleading, or doing the wave. I used McNeill in my Vidding book–but I also think of fandom’s love of a good power walk on any TV show! (For a great example check out the last few beats of the Clucking Belles’ Vid “A Fannish Taxonomy of Hotness”, below - power walks are the subject of the last section.)
Hot Hot Hot [Fanvid] : Clucking Belles : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Some orienting quotes from the start of the book:
Reflecting on my odd, surprising, and apparently visceral response to close-order drill, and recalling what little I knew about war dances and other rhythmic exercises among hunters and gatherers, I surmised that the emotional response to drill was an inheritance from prehistoric times, when our ancestors had danced around their camp fires before and after faring forth to hunt wild and dangerous animals…. (p.3)
The specifically military manifestations of this human capability are of less importance than the general enhancement of social cohesion that village dancing imparted to the majority of human beings from the time that agriculture began. Two corollaries demand attention. First, through recorded history, moving and singing together made collective tasks far more efficient. Without rhythmical coordination of the muscular effort required to haul and pry heavy stones into place, the pyramids of Egypt and many other famous monuments could nnot have been built. Second, I am convinced that long before written records allowed us to know anything precise about human behavior, keeping together in time became important for human evolution, allowing early human groups to increase their size, enhance their cohesion, and assure survival by improving their success in guarding territory, securing food, and nurturing the young. (p.4)
Our television screens show continuing pervasive manifestations of the human penchant for moving together in time. American football crowds, South African demonstrators, patriotic parades, and religious rituals of every description draw on the emotional effect of rhythmic movements and gestures. So of course do dancing, military drill, and the muscular exercises with which, it is said, workers in Japanese factories begin each day. Yet, so far as I can discover, scientific investigation of what happens to those who engage in such behavior remains scant and unsystematic. (p. 5)
1SE for June 2025
30 June 2025 22:04nanilaI can't quite believe how much has happened this month. At least 60 days of stuff were packed into June's 30. And now we're halfway through the year. Dear Time, Please slow down, Love, Me.
Rebuilding journal search again
30 June 2025 15:18alierak posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceWe're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
For anyone I've successfully lured: my top Disco Elysium tips
30 June 2025 15:19rydra_wong* SAVE OFTEN, especially in the early game when you may be very fragile and the game's auto-save is infrequent.
BUT -- don't reload from a save unless you actually die or otherwise hit a "game over."
This game is about failing, and it rewards you for playing forwards through failure. Some of the best moments in the game come from failed checks. There are always alternative routes and ways forwards. If you tried to savescum it, you would miss most of the game and all of the point. Embrace failure.
Okay there are those two specific checks where failing is so emotionally devastating I would not judge anyone for savescumming. But apart from those.
* You can just pick one of the Archetypes for a starter build, and leave messing around with custom character creation until you've seen the stats in action and understand how the system works. Don't stress about it. Or, if you want, you can throw yourself into custom character creation despite not having a clue how it works, and you will also have a fun time. Your initial build and your later choices about what you put points into will radically change your experience of the game, but you can't do it "wrong"; there are no optimal builds which are "better".
* Press tab to highlight objects you can interact with, or activate "detective mode" in the settings to do it automatically. Yes I know this is the sort of thing that is probably obvious to people who have played video games before.
* If your Health or Morale (displayed on the lower left of the screen) fall to zero, you have about 5 seconds to apply a healing item (if you have one) by clicking the cross above that stat.
This is the one timed element in the game, and also the one mechanic that some of us initially have trouble grasping.
With all the other mechanics in the game, you can not only learn them by flinging yourself in and floundering about, this is IMHO the best and most enjoyable way to learn them. No idea what the Thought Cabinet is or what Internalizing A Thought means? Try it and find out!
* Perhaps the most important tip of all:
If you feel you are flailing around and failing on most of the checks you try and you've just been informed you have acquired a Thought you can internalize in your Thought Cabinet and you have no clue what that means or maybe you just had a heart attack and died before you even got out of your hotel room or you had a nervous breakdown because a child insulted you and you have no idea what you're doing and it's been three days and you still haven't got the body down from the tree --
THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE PLAYING THE GAME "BADLY". THIS IS IN FACT THE UNIVERSAL DISCO ELYSIUM EXPERIENCE AND MEANS YOU ARE PLAYING THE GAME CORRECTLY. WELL DONE.
BUT -- don't reload from a save unless you actually die or otherwise hit a "game over."
This game is about failing, and it rewards you for playing forwards through failure. Some of the best moments in the game come from failed checks. There are always alternative routes and ways forwards. If you tried to savescum it, you would miss most of the game and all of the point. Embrace failure.
* You can just pick one of the Archetypes for a starter build, and leave messing around with custom character creation until you've seen the stats in action and understand how the system works. Don't stress about it. Or, if you want, you can throw yourself into custom character creation despite not having a clue how it works, and you will also have a fun time. Your initial build and your later choices about what you put points into will radically change your experience of the game, but you can't do it "wrong"; there are no optimal builds which are "better".
* Press tab to highlight objects you can interact with, or activate "detective mode" in the settings to do it automatically. Yes I know this is the sort of thing that is probably obvious to people who have played video games before.
* If your Health or Morale (displayed on the lower left of the screen) fall to zero, you have about 5 seconds to apply a healing item (if you have one) by clicking the cross above that stat.
This is the one timed element in the game, and also the one mechanic that some of us initially have trouble grasping.
With all the other mechanics in the game, you can not only learn them by flinging yourself in and floundering about, this is IMHO the best and most enjoyable way to learn them. No idea what the Thought Cabinet is or what Internalizing A Thought means? Try it and find out!
* Perhaps the most important tip of all:
If you feel you are flailing around and failing on most of the checks you try and you've just been informed you have acquired a Thought you can internalize in your Thought Cabinet and you have no clue what that means or maybe you just had a heart attack and died before you even got out of your hotel room or you had a nervous breakdown because a child insulted you and you have no idea what you're doing and it's been three days and you still haven't got the body down from the tree --
THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE PLAYING THE GAME "BADLY". THIS IS IN FACT THE UNIVERSAL DISCO ELYSIUM EXPERIENCE AND MEANS YOU ARE PLAYING THE GAME CORRECTLY. WELL DONE.
Dionysus by capitanpoops (SFW)
30 June 2025 23:06mific posting in fanart_recsFandom: Kaos
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Dionysius & Dennis
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: digital art
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: capitanpoops on tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: Lovely, vibrantly coloured art of Dionysus, with lots of movement and character in the drawings. Dennis the cat is very cute, too.
Link: Dionysus
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Dionysius & Dennis
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: digital art
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: capitanpoops on tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: Lovely, vibrantly coloured art of Dionysus, with lots of movement and character in the drawings. Dennis the cat is very cute, too.
Link: Dionysus
OAAAAAASIIIIIIIIIS
29 June 2025 10:32snickficIT'S HAPPENING. YOU GUYS IT'S HAPPENING. After literal months of dragging my feet due to a pet health situation, I finally bit the bullet yesterday and bought my plane tickets. To be fair to me, that did take several hours of thinking and comparing, because I'm also going to Slovenia to see friends, so I had to consider three one-way legs vs nested round-trips, plus see what day was cheapest to leave and come back within various other constraints, etc. BUT I HAVE THEM. AND I LEAVE IN LITERALLY THREE WEEKS AHHHHH.
Friend I'm going to the concert with told me all her friends are jealous because none of them could get tickets. 😇😇😇 I've seen photos of big Oasis displays over in the UK. Sounds like the hype is huge, can't wait to see it for myself.
In celebration, here's some top-notch Oasis content I've come across recently:
Noel calling into TalkSports, 6/27. On one hand, there's been basically zero official promo (unless you count a really slickly produced video advertising their exclusive Adidas line, which I do not???). On the other hand: Noel randomly calling into a sports radio show every so often. He seems in SUCH GOOD SPIRITS here omg, constantly referring to Liam as "our kid," winding up the hosts, being silly, and cheerfully declaring that it's "too late to back out [of the tour] now."
‘Liam had been drinking all night. Noel was not in a great mood’: photographers pick their best Oasis shot (The Guardian). Some fantastic quotes in this.
Are you fucking kidding me. Just when you think you've finally seen all the best/weirdest quotes from Noel about Liam... there's always more.
🥺🥺🥺
And in conclusion, a performance of the song that got me into Oasis, from 1997 near the peak of Oasis mania:
Noel gets so into the prechorus that he sings along with Liam even though he's not at the mic at the time, Liam looks like he's having a religious experience during Noel's guitar solo and then does a little dance, Noel looks like he's having a difference kind of experience during the solo... Top notch stuff.
Friend I'm going to the concert with told me all her friends are jealous because none of them could get tickets. 😇😇😇 I've seen photos of big Oasis displays over in the UK. Sounds like the hype is huge, can't wait to see it for myself.
In celebration, here's some top-notch Oasis content I've come across recently:
Noel calling into TalkSports, 6/27. On one hand, there's been basically zero official promo (unless you count a really slickly produced video advertising their exclusive Adidas line, which I do not???). On the other hand: Noel randomly calling into a sports radio show every so often. He seems in SUCH GOOD SPIRITS here omg, constantly referring to Liam as "our kid," winding up the hosts, being silly, and cheerfully declaring that it's "too late to back out [of the tour] now."
‘Liam had been drinking all night. Noel was not in a great mood’: photographers pick their best Oasis shot (The Guardian). Some fantastic quotes in this.
Bands – especially ones with a pretty boy singer or a female singer – can get really nervous that the singer gets all the attention. Noel was never like that. He said: “You’ve got to use the assets you’ve got.” -- Kevin Cummings
Are you fucking kidding me. Just when you think you've finally seen all the best/weirdest quotes from Noel about Liam... there's always more.
We were booked on the same flight, but the band were in club class and me and the hack were in goats-and-chickens. Liam came back to say hello. He was a garrulous guy, even pre-fame. He was standing at the back of the plane having a beer and this woman came by huffing and puffing with some kids and Liam offered to look after one of them. He pulled down one of those seats the flight attendants sit on and had the girl on his lap and chatted to her. After the tales I’d heard, I’d thought I was about to spend a few days with a nutcase. But he was sweet as a nut. -- Tom Sheehan
🥺🥺🥺
And in conclusion, a performance of the song that got me into Oasis, from 1997 near the peak of Oasis mania:
Noel gets so into the prechorus that he sings along with Liam even though he's not at the mic at the time, Liam looks like he's having a religious experience during Noel's guitar solo and then does a little dance, Noel looks like he's having a difference kind of experience during the solo... Top notch stuff.
PSA
29 June 2025 13:54rydra_wongDisco Elysium is currently 90% off in the Steam summer sale, making it a mere £3.49.
Play Disco Elysium, everybody. Yes, even if you don't play video games.
(It was the first video game I ever played -- apart from having once(?) played Pac Man as a child, many many decades ago -- and it was a perfect choice.)
If you understand the principle of a Choose Your Own Adventure book, have a vague sense that "stats" and "levelling up" are things, and can grasp "click to go to a place/interact with an object," you are sufficiently equipped.
ETA: Okay, I will add inastrogirl's excellent content warning:
Play Disco Elysium, everybody. Yes, even if you don't play video games.
(It was the first video game I ever played -- apart from having once(?) played Pac Man as a child, many many decades ago -- and it was a perfect choice.)
If you understand the principle of a Choose Your Own Adventure book, have a vague sense that "stats" and "levelling up" are things, and can grasp "click to go to a place/interact with an object," you are sufficiently equipped.
ETA: Okay, I will add in
astrogirl's excellent content warning:It's definitely not for everybody. I mean, for one thing, it gets pretty much all the trigger warnings for everything. Alcoholism and substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, discussions of sexual assault, gore (not visual, but some of the descriptions are very vivid), you name it. A number of characters are giant racists. (Towards fictional races/ethnicities, mind you, but it's still ugly.) Evil children will hurl homophobic slurs at you. That sort of thing. And whatever your politics, the game will try very hard to make you feel uncomfortable about them.
I have to celebrate you, baby by windsweptinred (SFW)
28 June 2025 12:43mific posting in fanart_recsFandom: Kaos
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Dionysius/Orpheus, and Dennis the cat
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: Traditional art (pen and ink drawing)
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: windsweptinred on tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: This is a lovely, quirky, pen drawing of Dionysius being worshipped by Orpheus, even if Orpheus is a bit distracted by Dennis making a bid for attention. I love the style, and how happy they all are. The likenesses are also very recognisable.
Link: I have to celebrate you, baby
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Dionysius/Orpheus, and Dennis the cat
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: Traditional art (pen and ink drawing)
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: windsweptinred on tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: This is a lovely, quirky, pen drawing of Dionysius being worshipped by Orpheus, even if Orpheus is a bit distracted by Dennis making a bid for attention. I love the style, and how happy they all are. The likenesses are also very recognisable.
Link: I have to celebrate you, baby
Looks like the mass lobby got NUMBERS \o/
26 June 2025 07:49rydra_wonghttps://www.thepinknews.com/2025/06/25/trans-westminster-lobby-ehrc/
The organizers are estimating circa 900 people showed up, putting it on a par with the biggest LGBTQ+ lobbies ever (against Section 28).
Outstanding work from the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, who also organized the legal briefing for MPs in May:
https://www.attitude.co.uk/news/trans-legal-experts-warn-supreme-court-ruling-could-be-breaching-human-rights-in-parliamentary-briefing-483801/
You can support them and get the "Maybe I'm trans?" badges or just support them without badges:
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/maybe-im-trans
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/solidarity-projects-campaigns-fund
The organizers are estimating circa 900 people showed up, putting it on a par with the biggest LGBTQ+ lobbies ever (against Section 28).
Outstanding work from the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, who also organized the legal briefing for MPs in May:
https://www.attitude.co.uk/news/trans-legal-experts-warn-supreme-court-ruling-could-be-breaching-human-rights-in-parliamentary-briefing-483801/
You can support them and get the "Maybe I'm trans?" badges or just support them without badges:
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/maybe-im-trans
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/solidarity-projects-campaigns-fund
(no subject)
24 June 2025 16:00snickfic- Of course now I want some kind of Brokeback/On Swift Horses crossover. Maybe like mid-60s, Jack runs into happily partnered Henry and Julius and they listen to his woes and fuck him.
- On related note, sure wish On Swift Horses would get onto streaming! Like for free with subscription, not just VOD like it is now.
- Some highlights from the very serious Oasis discussion forum:
- The Dead Meat Podcast is covering the entire Saw series, movie by movie. I am so excited. First episode of Hot Saw Summer is here. I have already rewatched Saw II in preparation for the next episode, which comes out tomorrow.
- I am eyeing the Terrible Temperature Troubles flash exchange, although I really shouldn't, because I still need to beat my Hurt/Comfort Ex bus pass into shape, and I have to Summer of Horror treats to work on. Meanwhile I'm also tempted by Battleship, which I said I'd never do again...
- On related note, sure wish On Swift Horses would get onto streaming! Like for free with subscription, not just VOD like it is now.
- Some highlights from the very serious Oasis discussion forum:
Liam looked especially handsome in the video for 'Don't Go Away'. Elegantly wasted.
Why does it matter [what Noel looks like]? Being pretty is Liam's job.
- The Dead Meat Podcast is covering the entire Saw series, movie by movie. I am so excited. First episode of Hot Saw Summer is here. I have already rewatched Saw II in preparation for the next episode, which comes out tomorrow.
- I am eyeing the Terrible Temperature Troubles flash exchange, although I really shouldn't, because I still need to beat my Hurt/Comfort Ex bus pass into shape, and I have to Summer of Horror treats to work on. Meanwhile I'm also tempted by Battleship, which I said I'd never do again...
Movies: Planet Terror and Brokeback Mountain
24 June 2025 15:16snickficPlanet Terror (2007). A very silly, pulpy exploitation movie starring a bunch of recognizable people fighting a zombie apocalypse. This is very much the thing that it is. Gross, inappropriate humor, a child shoots himself in the head. Rose McGowan is really hot, but the whole thing is soured by her RL history with Weinstein, who produced. Tarantino cast himself as a would-be rapist in his buddy's film. There's a lot of ehhhhhhh here, is way I'm saying.
I didn't hate watching it, but nor do I need to watch it again.
--
Brokeback Mountain (2005). Two cowboys herd sheep on a mountainside and start a decades-long affair. I got to see this at the theater for the 20-year anniversary, yay. It was pretty good! Heath Ledger was fantastic as Ennis, and the scenery was gorgeous.
That said, I had a lot of quibbles. Truthfully, realistic drama is not my genre even when you make it gay, so feel free to chalk most of my complaints up to that if you want.
That said, there were two key transition points that felt really abrupt and underdeveloped (the first time they have sex, and the reunion after four years apart). I also feel like either Gyllenhaal didn't get enough to work with, or he did not do a great job at working with what he had. It felt like the whole movie Ledger was showing and Gyllenhaal was telling. Ultimately, though, I think my main problem with this movie is I just about never vibe with the "decades of vignettes" drama subgenre. It always feels like the story is spread too thin, and it does here, too.
I do see the criticism about this being too much about tragic gays or whatever. There's no such thing as the universal queer experience, and no one work can capture What It Means To Be Queer, but even so this feels like a particularly narrow and bleak perspective.
Overall probably won't become one of my favorites, but I'm glad I've finally seen it.
I didn't hate watching it, but nor do I need to watch it again.
--
Brokeback Mountain (2005). Two cowboys herd sheep on a mountainside and start a decades-long affair. I got to see this at the theater for the 20-year anniversary, yay. It was pretty good! Heath Ledger was fantastic as Ennis, and the scenery was gorgeous.
That said, I had a lot of quibbles. Truthfully, realistic drama is not my genre even when you make it gay, so feel free to chalk most of my complaints up to that if you want.
That said, there were two key transition points that felt really abrupt and underdeveloped (the first time they have sex, and the reunion after four years apart). I also feel like either Gyllenhaal didn't get enough to work with, or he did not do a great job at working with what he had. It felt like the whole movie Ledger was showing and Gyllenhaal was telling. Ultimately, though, I think my main problem with this movie is I just about never vibe with the "decades of vignettes" drama subgenre. It always feels like the story is spread too thin, and it does here, too.
I do see the criticism about this being too much about tragic gays or whatever. There's no such thing as the universal queer experience, and no one work can capture What It Means To Be Queer, but even so this feels like a particularly narrow and bleak perspective.
Overall probably won't become one of my favorites, but I'm glad I've finally seen it.